The present invention relates to an article joining control method for conveying and joining articles from a plurality of auxiliary conveyance paths to a single main conveyance path.
A publicly known article joining control method allocates a given empty space in a main conveyance path to an auxiliary conveyance path for each passage of given time, and articles stored on the auxiliary conveyance path are joined to the empty space in the main conveyance path. The empty space is defined as a spacing between articles or groups (hereinafter referred to as lots) of articles in a main line. In this joining control method, the given empty space has a given length established when articles stored on the auxiliary conveyance path come to full amount, the space being allotted irrespective of the amount of articles stored on the auxiliary conveyance path.
In another publicly known article joining control method, when there is in the main conveyance path only an empty space which is shorter than the amount (length) of the articles stored on the auxiliary conveyance path, the articles are not jointed to that empty space but to an empty space allocated between the articles or rearwardly of the lot of articles.
With the publicly known article joining control method, however, there occurs the following problem.
In the publicly known article joining control method which allocates a given empty space, since a space corresponding to the length established at the time of full amount is allotted in order for article joining irrespective of the amount of articles stored, empty spaces with no articles being conveyed therein are formed on the main conveyance path, presenting a problem that the joining efficiency is low.
Further, when there is on the main conveyance path only an empty space which is shorter than the amount of articles stored on the auxiliary conveyance path, the publicly known article joining control method which does not allow article joining to such empty space presents a problem that many empty spaces are formed, lowering the joining efficiency. Further, since storage of articles occurs in the auxiliary conveyance path, waiting time is involved in carrying articles into the auxiliary conveyance path, presenting a problem that the operating efficiency lowers.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to solve these problems and provide an article joining control method which reduces empty spaces on a main conveyance path to increase joining efficiency, thus increasing operating efficiency.
To achieve this object, the invention provides an article joining control method for joining articles, carried into and stored in a plurality of auxiliary conveyance paths, from the auxiliary conveyance paths to a main conveyance path conveying articles, in which when a spacing equal to our greater than a predetermined length is found between articles or between groups of articles being conveyed on the main conveyance path, the stored articles which correspond to the length of the spacing are cut out from the auxiliary conveyance, paths to the main conveyance path characterized in that when the articles have been cut out from each auxiliary conveyance path for joining, a spacing is created on the auxiliary conveyance path prior to next carrying in of articles.
According to such method, the empty spacing in which no article is conveyed on the main conveyance path is reduced to increase joining efficiency and the stored amount of articles on the auxiliary conveyance paths is reduced to reduce waiting time for loading operation, thereby increasing article loading efficiency.